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^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. *^ 






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EDUCATION, 






AND NOT LEGhSLATlON, 




If "0©mmifT'i Se©!^ 



A THANKSGIVING DISCOURSE. 



^ 



BY W. T. MOORE. 



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EDUCATION, 



AND NOT LEGISLATION, 



S>UR Country's If EED: 



A THANKSGIVING niSCOURSE, 



DKLIVERED AT THE 



Central Christian Church, Cincinnati, November 29, 1877. 



Wr T. MOORK. Pastor. 




CINCINNATI: 

CH ASE & HALL, 

1878. 



EDUCATION, AND NOT LH(;iSLATION. 



Out doiiqtry'^ Jv[eed. 



Ti';XT : ^^Behold, J have giveti him for a witness to the people, a 
leader and commander to the people.'''' — Isaiah Iv, 4. 

" Teaching us that dettying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we 
should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present worlds — 
Titus ii, 12. 

Emerson, with pliilosophic precision of language, 
and with ahnost prophetic ken, clearly intimates both 
our national disease and remedy in the following terse 
and vigorous paragraph: "We shall one day learn to 
supersede politics by education. What we call our 
root-and-branch reforms of slavery, war, gambling, in- 
temperance, is only medicating the symptoms. We 
must begin higher up; namely, in education." And 
what is here so forcibly suggested was never more im- 
portant to the American people than at this very hour. 
I am no alarmist, and yet I think I see dangers ahead 
which, if not guarded against, may prove fatal to our 
experiment of democratic government. Nations, like 
individuals, learn from experience, but it often happens 
that experience is a very dear teacher. And should 



EDUCATION, AND NOT LEGISLATION, 

we fail to clearly comprehend some of the influences 
now at work upon us, it may be that our present 
experience will cost us even more than we are able 
to pay. I know it may be said that we have already 
successfully passed several very dangerous periods 
in our National existence, and that false prophets 
have come to grief all through our past history, and 
that, therefore, prophecies concerning danger are en- 
tirely out of place at present. I do not wish to be 
misunderstood. I certainly do not anticipate any very 
great immediate change in the structure of our Govern- 
ment, and yet I have very little faith in the idea that 
our institutions have a sort of charmed life, against 
which nothing can successfully contend. I have faith 
in our Government, and I have abundant faith in that 
Providence that has watched over us and so signally 
blessed us in the past, and for which guardianship and 
blessing we are offering our hearts' deepest gratitude 
on this Thanksgiving day. Still, I do not believe 
that faith alone will save us. Neither do I look for a 
miraculous interposition of Providence in our behalf 
should we continue to violate or ignore some of the 
plainest principles underlying a republican form of 
government. 

Let me call your attention to what seems to me to 
be a growing tendency. It may be that this tendency 
has not been so distinctly observed by others ; but I 
feel sure the tendency is no less certain because not 
very generally perceived. It will be readily conceded 
by all who are competent to "judge that the very idea 
of a democracy involves the supremacy of the people. 



0(/R COUXTRYS NE/iD. 



But it seems to me that we are beginning to transfer this 
supremacy to those whom the people elect to office 
in order to secure certain ends of government. In this 
country the people are the real rulers, while those 
elected to office are the public servants, who make laws 
and administer them for the benefit of the people they 
represent. Any other view than this is fatal to our 
most cherished political claim. Now I do not say that 
there are designing politicians who are aiming to over- 
throw this essential feature of our Government; nor do 
I think the people are conscious that they are gradu- 
ally giving up their supremacy in the respect referred 
to. And it is for this very reason that I think the dan- 
ger is great. The trouble, for the most part, is likely 
to come through the legislative departments These 
are nearest to the people, and to these the people will 
make their first surrender. 

It is strange that men love power so well, and are 
yet forever seeking devices to escape its responsibili- 
ties. Sunday-schools become a necessity in religious 
matters largely because parents will not assume the 
care and labor of giving their children religious in- 
struction at home. Hence the Sunday-school scape- 
goat has been invented. And this may be well enough 
for the present at least, since it seems almost impossi- 
ble for us to do any better. If we have the power of 
Orpheus, we should certainly not hesitate to use it when 
seeking to escape the seductive music of the Sirens ; 
but if we have not that power, and are without any 
present means of obtaining it, then it is unquestiona- 
bly the part of wisdom to follow the e.xample of Ulysses 

5 



EDUCATION, AND NOT LEGISLATION, 

by fastening ourselves to the masts of the ship. In 
other words, if we can not have the family culture 
which is needed, then let us tie ourselves to the Sun- 
day-school until at least the point of danger is fairly 
passed. But, after all, it must be conceded by every 
right-thinking person that the Sunday-school is, at best, 
but a poor substitute for earnest religious training at 
home, and that, as such, it would scarcely be tolerated, 
except for the reason that it relieves, to a certain ex- 
tent, the sense of responsibility which otherwise would 
be deeply felt. 

In political life the case is not very much differ- 
ent. The people find themselves weighed down with 
cares and responsibilities. Or, to change the figure, they 
find themselves greatly afflicted with some moral, social, 
or political malady, and instead of seeking for a nor- 
mal remedy, they immediately fly to their Legislatures 
or Congress, and demand a specific that will bring sure 
and swift relief. Hence, in many respects, the legis- 
lative department of our States and the National Gov- 
ernment has become a vast establishment for the 
manufacture of patent medicines to cure the evils 
complained of by the people. In other words, the pop- 
ular idea seems .to be that nearly if not quite all our 
troubles are to be cured by' legislation. Hence our 
legislators, instead pf enacting wise and economical 
laws for the purpose of protecting "life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness," spend -their time chiefly in wrang- 
ling over who, shall have patents for the respective nos- 
trums proposed for the public "weal. 

This is no overdrawn picture ; it is sober fact. The 
6 



OUR COUNTRY'S NEED. 



people are no longer willing to suffer for their own sins. 
Hence they demand that laws shall be enacted to re- 
lieve them. Legislation, legislation, legislation is the 
scape-goat to relieve individual responsibility, and carry 
off the sins of the people. Do you ask for an example? 
I have only to point you to the constant demand for 
sumptuary laws, for laws regulating the conscience, and 
for laws regulating trade and commerce, where no statu- 
tory enactments can possibly reach. At present we 
have a striking example of this popular faith in legisla- 
tion in the agitation of the money question. I think it 
could be easily demonstrated that all the excitement on 
this subject has done the country immeasurable harm, 
and that to-day we would have been vastly better off 
had the whole matter been left where it rightfully be- 
longs — to the laws which regulate demand and supply.. 
After our civil war closed, some simple legislation in 
reference to our finances may have been proper enough, 
but the number of pretentious remedies proposed has 
only served to illustrate the capacity of our National 
Congress to answer any demand which the people may 
make upon them for medical compounds with which to 
treat the popular disease. Who supposes that any law 
that may have been passed, or that may be passed, will 
materially lighten the burdens of our present financial 
distress? During the last Presidential canvass the peo- 
ple were told from every rostrum, and through every 
political newspaper, precisely what would happen if this 
or that candidate was elected. Each party told the 
credulous masses that the only thing necessary in order 
to a return of peace and plenty was the election of its 

7 



EDUCATION, AND NOT LEGISLATION, . 

candidate. But who does not know now that that was 
a delusion, a monstrous cheat? And who does not 
know, when he stops to think, that it is not in the power 
of any party, or law-making establishment, to give us 
the prosperity we demand? This depends on forces 
lying quite outside of party politics, and is only slightly 
effected by either vState or National legislation. We do 
do not say that no legislation should be attempted. 
Certainly legislation has its proper place ; but, in a 
community like ours, too much is worse than none at 
all. The fact is, human government itself is only an 
expedient to supplement certain deficiencies in individ- 
ual growth, and hence Wendell Phillips has truthfully 
said that "government is only a necessary evil, like 
other go-carts and crutches. Our need of it shows ex- 
actly how far we are still children. All governing over- 
much kills the selfhelp and energy of the governed." 
This is precisely what I mean when I say there is 
danger in the tendency to which I have called attention. 
Legislation, under certain limitations, is all well enough ; 
but legislation ovennuc/i is not only no remedy for the 
maladies complained of, but is itself a worse malady 
than any other, with which the country is afflicted. 
Hence in providing against the evils with which we are 
surrounded, I would not look for much help from either 
our State or National legislature, but I would seek for it 
in another remedy which I will now introduce. 

Under this head I will preface what I have to say 
by quoting the following sage advice from the immortal 
Washington. He says, " Pj-omote as an object of pri- 
mary importance institutions for the general diffusion of 

8 



OUR COUNTRY'S NEKD. 



knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a gov- 
ernment gives force to public opinion it should be en- 
lightened." 

This expresses precisely the first need of our 
country at the present time. Unquestionably the struc- 
ture of our Government gives the very greatest impor- 
tance to public opinion. Hence it follows that this 
opinion should be educated in the highest possible de- 
gree. But Washington doubtless had in his mind a 
diffusion of knowledge quite different from that usually 
obtained at institutions of learning in this country. I 
certainly do not undervalue the education imparted at 
our common-schools and colleges, and yet I am fearful 
that it frequently very poorly meets the ends of society. 
It may be well enough to understand the science of 
mathematics, to come into sympathy with the wonderful 
revelations of astronomy, to lose one's self in the almost 
endless divisions and subdivisions of chemistry, and to 
revel with delight in the mysterious wonders of natural 
philosophy. Nor is it a mean thing to be able to class- 
ify the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and take pleas- 
ure in the revelations of the modes of life there revealed. 
But a man may be able to do all this, and a great deal 
more, and yet fall very far short of that development 
which assures a true manhood, and which gives majesty 
and grandeur to all that he does, and thereby makes 
his doings tend to either the weal or woe of the society 
with which he is associated. It may be that our people 
do not need less knowledge of figures, plants, and insects, 
but it is very certain that they need more knowledge of 
man — man as related to the past, present, and future — 

9 



EDUCATION, AND NOT LEGISLATION, 
— »^»-j»i^fj»>*-«--« — 

man as he was, as he is, and as he is destined to be. 
Here is a field of study worthy an immortal soul. Here 
we are in contact with the past, present, and fi.iture. 
Here we are reading history, acting our part in the 
great theater of life, and at the same time studying the 
prophecy of on-coming age. What immeasurable scope 
for the exercise of all our powers, and what infinite 
possibilities in attainments are suggested ! The very 
thought of such an education as this is soul-inspiring, 
and sinks into utter insignificance the meagre results 
obtained in passing through the ordinary college course. 
True, that course may be regarded as preparatory to 
this higher development; but the trouble is, most people 
are satisfied when the first steps are accomplished. 
Then, again, it is quite a mistaken notion that a man 
can not be educated in a very high sense without 
this preparatory instruction. It may be that he can 
not become learned without this, but he certainly may 
become educated. There is quite a difference between 
learning and education, and yet this distinction is not 
often noted in making up our estimates of men. Hor- 
ace Mann has said that " scho6l-houses are the repub- 
lican line of fortifications." This is very neatly put, 
but scarcely expresses the truth we desire. We want 
our school-houses to be more than lines of fortifica- 
tions. We want them to be centers of inspiration that 
will send their occupants into the fortified lines of error, 
and enable them to grapple in deadly conflict with all 
that hinders'human progress and" the highest development 
of our race. I tell you that it is not enough that our 
education should be defensive. It must be offensive. 



OlfR COUA'TRYS NEED. 

It must not only charge every man with the keeping of a 
high and important trust, but it must send him on a 
heroic mission to rescue the perishing. We have had 
quite too much of this sickly style in both Church and 
State. We need to be more aggressive if we ever 
expect to make the conquest of this world. We can, 
perhaps, afford to sing " Hold the Fort " when the 
world has once been thoroughly conquered. But it is 
certainlv poor business for either Christians or states- 
men while there are yet so many forts to be taken. 
" Storm the Fort " would be vastly more in harmony 
with the true idea of living and the real necessities of 
the case. 

Hence, while I propose a better education for the 
people, as a substitute for the overmuch legislation with 
which we are cursed, I wish that education to embrace 
a much wider range than is usually deemed necessary 
in preparing a man for the responsibilities of life. Mil- 
ton's idea of education was almost identical with what 
is generallv supposed to be the full measure. " I call," 
said he, "a complete and generous education that which 
fits a man to perform justly, skillfully, and magnani- 
mously all the offices, both private and public, of peace 
and war." This is a very clear statement, but it has on 
it all the marks of the machine to which I have so 
seriously objected. And then it is nothing more than a 
glittering generality as to the result obtained, without 
any reference whatever to specification of method by 
which the education is to be accomplished. I am aware 
that it is easier to find fault with definitions than to 
make them. Hence, I am not sure that I will be able 



EDUCATION, AND NOT LEGISLATION, 

to offer a definition any more satisfiictory to you than 
the one I have quoted. Still, I think the area may 
at least be determined with something like definite 
certainty. 

The Apostle Paul enjoins sobriety, righteousness, 
and godliness as the necessary conditions of the life 
which now is and that which is to come. This seems 
to me to fill up the sphere of education, and I verily be- 
lieve that nothing else does. Sobriety, or self-control, 
embraces obligations to one's self; righteousness, obli- 
gations to society ; and godliness, obligations to God. 
The first is the sphere of culture, the second of morality, 
and the third of religion. Still, in discussing the sub- 
ject under consideration to-day, I need not occupy your 
time except with the' first of these — sobriety. This em- 
braces all that we understand by self-control, and this is 
precisely the point that needs to be emphasized in the 
education of the American people. Let us briefly notice 
some of the things that we shall be called upon to learn 
while we are mastering the science of sobriety. 

I. We shall learn important lessons in economy. 
As a people it can scarcely be doubted that we need to 
learn much upon this subject. In fact, I think it may 
be stated without the fear of contradiction that ex- 
travagance in living is one of the chief causes that has 
brought on our present financial distress. Hard times 
have come -upon us because we have utterly refused to 
subject ourselves to any thing like real self-denial. With 
lavish profligacy and heedless extravagance we have 
answered all the warnings' that foretold our coming hu- 
miliation. And now that our distress has come, we are 



0[/R COCWV'A'V S SEED. 

seeking in legislation the help which can only be found 
in economical living. Forgetting the proper cause of 
our disease, or else refusing to acknowledge what we 
know to be the truth, it is not difficult for us to per- 
suade ourselves that a few finely worded enactments will 
soon restore us to health again. And our law-makers, 
ready to show their willingness to come to the people's 
rescue, partly from patriotic motives, perhaps, but more 
generally, doubtless, because the purposes of the dema- 
gogue are better served, set about at once to legalize a 
panacea which is supposed to cure all the financial ills 
that the country is heir to. This may slop the clamors 
of the people for a time, and even help somebody get into 
office, but otherwi.se it will prove as ineffectual as an 
effort would be to turn the Ohio River up stream by 
obstructing its headway with an ordinary steamboat. It 
is education and not legislation that the people need. 
How is it that France has so quickly paid her enormous 
war debt, and is now the richest nation in Europe? 1 
answer. The people of France have learned the lesson of 
economy. They know how to live comfortably without 
extravagance. The average Frenchman very well under- 
stands Cicero's truism that " economy is of itself a great 
revenue." This is what has enabled the French Nation 
to perform what has appeared to the rest of the civilized 
world as a financial miracle. As a people they have 
not made more than others, but they have saved more. 
They have fully illustrated the doctrine of Publius Syrus 
that " there is no gain so certain as that which arises 
from sparing what we have." 

2. In this training we will come to understand better 
13 



EDUCATION, AND NOT LEGISLATION, 

the subject of temperance. We have be^n called a na- 
tion of drunkards, and the propriety of this appellation 
is not without some foundation in fact. It is certainly 
an exaggeration, but there is altogether too much truth 
in it to be passed by with indifference. The whole tend- 
ency of our American life is to excesses. It seems as 
if the vigorous young blood of our National manhood 
can not be restrained. We seek law for every thing, but 
will ourselves submit to nothing. .Our Young America 
is indeed a peculiar little man. He must gratify his 
whims and caprices, no matter what results may follow. 
He is never so much at home as when he is thoroughly 
inconsistent. Hence he hates tyranny with an inveterate 
hatred, and yet deliberately places himself under the 
complete control of the worst tyrant upon earth. In the 
gratification of his appetites and passions, he entirely ig- 
nores law and tramples authority under his feet ; while 
perhaps the very next day he will demand a statutory 
enactment to protect him from the consequence of his 
own folly. 

This brief outline presents a fairly drawn picture of 
our average American life, and in this very picture we 
behold' the immense possibilities for good which ought 
to be developed from a character containing such ele- 
ments of power. ■ Byt this character is largely uncultured 
yet. It has never been subjected to -any real vigorous 
training. What it needs is a regulation diet and con- 
stant, faithful exercise in self-denial. And until this is 
had, our law-makers -may roH'up statutes for the govern- 
ment of the people mountain high, and they will only 
make matters worse instead of better. Their legislation 

14 



O UR C O UN TR Y ' S NEED. 



will certainly create a want of respect for the sactions 
of law, and this, added to the general demoralization, 
will augment shame into crime, and make personal in- 
toxication and legal impotency practically synonyms in 
the language of our national downfall. 

3. As a people we need resignation, patience, and con- 
tentment, and these are vastly more important to our 
real growth than all the legislation that could be had in 
a thousand years. But these must come through ear- 
nest, faithful training. They are not elements from with- 
out, they are from within. They can not be found on 
statute books, signed and sealed by governmental au- 
thority, and ready to be delivered to all comers as a re- 
ward of citizenship. They are the property only of 
those who have mastered the science of sobriety. Hence 
they are things to be learned by constant, faithful watch- 
ing ; by earnest, prayerful struggle with our appetites and 
passions. In a word, they are gained by conquering 
our own spirits, and thereby enabling us to become 
greater than he who takes a city. The Apostle Paul says: 
" I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to 
be content." This wonderful equipoise of character 
was not conferred upon the Apostle Paul as a gift from 
without, but he received it by the careful development 
of faculties within, guided by the light of truth, which 
must always be the illuminating element. 

So it must be with us. We must learn resignation, 
patience, and contentment in the great school of self- 
control, and then as a people we can hope for such 
a development of individual and national character as 
will win the respect of all other peoples, and at the 

15 



EDUCATION, AND NOT [.EG/SLATfON. 

same time receive the approbation of our Heavenly 
Father. 

Had I the time, I would like to indicate a little more 
specifically some of the methods by which these attain- 
ments can be reached, for I am not unmindful of the 
fact that a remedy may sometimes be suggested without 
any information as to how it is to be obtained, and this 
must be very embarrassing to a patient that needs it 
immediately. But for the present I must content myself 
with a very general statement as to how this great train- 
ing is to be accomplished. Still, I must say this much, 
if I say nothing else ; namely, This t;ducation for the 
most part must be obtained, if obtained at all, in the 
HOME CIRCLE. I caq not argue the question now, but 
this is my deliberate judgment. Hence it follows that 
a 7vell-ordered, consecrated home life is the one crying 
need of the American people to-day. Make tlie fount- 
ain pure, and the stream will be pure also. But once 
corrupt the fountain with the vicious habits of extrava- 
gance, intemperance, impatience, unrighteousness, and 
ungodliness, and the whole stream of our National life 
can be little better than a mad torrent of passion and 
unrest. 

Assuming that the high degree of self-culture which 
I have indicated is, not out of the range of a possible 
realization, I will 'conclude what I have to say on the 
present occasion with a brief reference to some of the 
advantages jvhich would accrue to us by substituting 
education for legislation in our individual and National 
development. 

First. Our people would themselves become wiser and 
i6 



OUR COUXTRY'S NEED. 

more virtuous, stronger and more self-reliant. In the 
proper training of the people is laid the foundation of 
all true national greatness. This fact has been more 
distinctly seen since the advent of Christ. Before he 
came into the world, progress was possible only through 
the people's rulers. But Christ's mission was directly 
to the people. He was to be "a leader and commander 
to the people," and when he came his advent was 
heralded by the angels in these highly significant words: 
"Behold, 1 bring you good tidings of great joy, which 
shall be to all people." In this declaration is sounded 
the key-note of the new civilization. Hence we can 
look now for true, substantial progress only where the 
people hold the supremacy that Christ has given them, 
and when their education is commensurate with the 
responsibilities of the position they occupy. 

It will be seen that what I have claimed for them 
will precisely meet these conditions, and consequently 
great advantages will accrue to the people themselves 
should they turn away from the false theories of the 
past and seek for help in that comprehensive develop- 
ment which I have marked out, and which alone can 
give us what we really need. 

Second. A thorough education of the people would 
react most favorably on their public servants. At pres- 
ent there is an evident decay of genuine statesmanship. 
But why is this? Is it because no men are elected to 
office now who are the intellectual equals of those who 
have made the past history of our country so famous? 
I can not think that this is the reason. In my opinion 
the real reason is, there is now no room for the display 

17 



EDUCATION, AND NOT LKGISLATION, 

of Statesmanship In our public affairs. The people are 
impatient and demand immediate results ; and their 
rulers answer them back with expedients which, at best, 
serve only a temporary purpose. But true statesman- 
ship is devotion to an idea, and often requires years of 
patient waiting before any practical results come into 
view. Hence the true statesman walks not by sight, 
but by faith, while our modern politician often walks 
neither by sight nor by faith ; but whatever light he does 
possess is generally used in helping him to thread the 
labyrinthian passages which lead from the people to 
public office. Hence his ambition is exhausted in place- 
seeking and place-holding, and as this can be success- 
fully accomplished only by pleasing the "dear people," 
he ceases to aspire to any thing like enlightened states- 
manship, and gives himself up to the poor business of 
providing specifics for the chronic ailments of his con- 
stituents. Truly may it be said, "Like people, like poli- 
ticinns." But if the people would cease making these 
unworthy demands of their public servants, these serv- 
ants would soon gain for themselves a new self-respect, 
and this new inspiration would come back to the people 
with powerful regenerating force. And thus the people 
would greatly help themselves by relieving their rulers 
of a burden which is now practical death to all the 
highest and best ins'pirations of public life. 

Third. The proper understanding and enforcement 
of sobriety would lay- the foundation deep and broad 
for the addition of righteolisness and godliness in our 
national development. B^y adding righteousness, we 
should gain honesty in the administration of public 

iS 



OUT? COUNTRY'S NEED. 



affairs, and proper respect for the rights of others. For 
righteousness is simply a discharge of obligation to 
one's neighbor. Hence, though trained in self-control, 
we would not live selfishly, but would pay due respect 
to the welfare of those by whom we are surrounded. 
This would be an immense gain, since dishonesty in 
official life is one of the crying shames of our present 
demoralization. 

But as the crowning point of our civilization, we 
ought to be a godly people. For, after all, godliness 
is the highest morality and most worthy patriotism. 
Truly has it been said that "godliness, with contentment, 
is great gain." Now, to be godly is to faithfully discharge 
our obligations to God. And it seems to me that there 
is no other nation on earth whose responsibility in this 
respect is greater than ours.' We have certainly had 
enough evidence of the divine fovor to convince us 
that God is willing to be our God, if we are willing to 
be his people. All along our history he has followed us 
with his blessing. Times without number he has shown 
his special regard for us. And now, when peace reigns 
throughout our borders, and health and plenty were 
never more graciously bestowed, it does seem that grati- 
tude, even if nothing else, wouM lead us to rejoice in 
the privilege of honoring Him "Who governs among 
the nations," and whose watchful care is over all. And 
should all our culture end in the rightful recognition 
of his authority and willing obedience to his commands, 
then may we confidently hope that our "peace shall be 
like the rivers, and our righteousness like the waves 
of the sea." 

19 



